One More Question
by Yukaido
Summary: That kiss...it was more breathtaking and beautiful than Aang had ever imagined, even more beautiful than it had been in his dreams. But this wasn't a dream. The war was really over. The Avatar had restored balance. And Katara had just kissed him.


**I feel the need to let you readers know that I am one of the most un-original writers to walk the face of the planet. OTL I felt like every single sentence I wrote down for this story was an idea used in some fanfiction I had read the previous day, a quote from some book I'd read sometime in my life...all in all, I kept getting the nagging feeling that I was partaking in copyright infringement... OTLL But I just had to get this out of my system, the urge to write some Kataangy goodness was just too great! I've become completely obsessed with Avatar ever since my friend **_Insert_Sanity_** converted me ([heart])**** and Aang is too adorable! **(Though I still find it slightly ackward that I seem to be crushing on a cartoon character that's practically the same age as my sister...)

**One of the motives behind this fanfiction is that I felt like this site needed some more innocent, kid Aang as opposed to many Kataang stories I've been sifting through in which their relationship is portrayed as much more mature. I LOVE A LOT OF STORIES HERE ON THIS SITE THAT ARE JUST LIKE THAT, but I just love Kid!Aang from the beginning of the series too. (squee) The other half of this motivation is just my hopeless inner fangirl (fails). So I hope that I'm forgiven enough to not be sued** **and have BS stamped on my forehead,** **and please do enjoy!**

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**One More Question**

That kiss...it was more breathtaking and beautiful than Aang had ever imagined, even more beautiful than it had been in his dreams. In his dreams, there was no war to hinder Katara with doubt, no weight of the world upon his shoulders, and definitely no perfectly timed interruptions from Sokka keeping Aang from showing Katara how much she meant to him. But this wasn't a dream. The war was really over. The Avatar had restored balance to the Four Nations once again. And Katara had just kissed him.

If this was the reward for defeating Fire Lord Ozai and restoring peace to the four nations, Aang would fight the Fire Nation any day.

A minute went by and Katara pulled her lips away slowly, a shy, slightly embarrassed smile playing across her face. Aang was still too stunned to move, his face a deep crimson and his mouth hanging slightly open at the lingering memory of Katara's kiss. Katara waited for the boy whose kiss she had finally returned to say something, smile, grin, _anything_, but Aang just remained frozen in the same position he had been in when the kiss ended, not a muscle in his face moving or even showing that he had comprehended anything that had just happened.

"Aang? Hello? Can you even hear me?" Katara asked, slight worry tinged with impatience ringing in her voice. She waved a hand in front of his face. Still nothing. Katara began to wonder if Aang would even flinch were a herd of flying bison to randomly stampede by.

"Planet Avatar, anyone home?"

Finally, Aang started out of his reverie and his wide, shimmering eyes looked up into Katara's waiting ones. If it was even physically possible, his mouth went dryer and his blush deepened a shade darker.

"Uhhh...," Aang began, flustered. After that mind-reeling kiss _and _being caught dazing off, his mind was had gone completely blank. Zip. He felt like a skunk fish out of water, his mouth flapping uselessly while no noise came out of it. This had to be the most embarrassing moment of all the Avatar's past lives and his combined.

Katara began to giggle incessantly at the expression on Aang's face. It was as if with one kiss on the lips, the tables had been completely flipped, every trace of doubt chased away from Katara's mind and all the confidence sapped from Aang's.

"Aang, you're blushing!" Katara teased, giggling madly at Aang's speechlessness.

"Am not!" Aang exclaimed, knowing that it was the biggest lie ever as the denial left his lips. His cheeks were so hot right now, it felt like his face was burning off.

"Yes you are!" Katara replied, doubling over upon herself in an attempt to cover up her giggles.

"Not!" Aang retorted again, but his voice lacked in the convincing department as he pulled the collar of his traditional monk's robs up over his nose and cheeks to hide the evidence in embarrassment. This only made Katara's losing struggle even more hopeless as more giggles erupted from her, Aang ducking even further down into his robes. Finally, Katara's giggling settled down and she smiled warmly.

"Yes...," she said, leaning close to Aang once more and gently pulling the collar of Aang's robes down from his face, "...you are."

Katara placed a quick, chaste kiss on Aang's lips and he fell over.

Katara couldn't contain the laughter that burst from her as she looked down at the "all-might and powerful Avatar", toppled over on his back and starring up at the sky with a goofy, love-struck grin stretching across his face. His blush was as bright as ever.

"Now you're a tomato!" Katara exclaimed, her laughed barely subsiding long enough to utter that one exclamation as she clutched her aching sides.

Aang suddenly grinned mischievously and before Katara knew it, Aang had airbended a current that sent her toppling over, right on top of the boy she had just been laughing at. Katara quickly rolled off of him and she collapsed in a sprawled head beside him, her laughter only doubled at the irony of her current position. Aang's laughter quickly joined hers and for a few minutes, all they could do was lay side by side, simultaneously laughing and gasping for air.

Finally, the two calmed down and an easy silence fell between them, neither harboring any real desire to move away from their spots on the balcony floor.

"You know, Zuko's probably going to kill us when he sees how dirty we've already gotten these clothes he gave us, right?" Katara said absently, her expression tranquil as she gazed up at the oranges and reds that the setting sun was casting into the sky, smiling peacefully.

"Yah, he's gonna be furious," Aang laughed, imagining fire and steam shooting out of Zuko's ears as he went on a scathing rant about how old and sacred the monks robes he as now wearing were to the history of the Airbenders, how few of them were still intact, and exactly how many long, infuriating hours it took him to gain access to the Fire Sages' archives to retrieve them.

Again, silence surrounded the two, both of them allowing the serenity of the evening air to wrap around them like a blanket, the breeze brushing against their faces and ruffling their clothes as their thoughts wandered. They laid like that for quite some time, just watching the sun set and mulling over the enormity of all that had occurred that day. In just that one day, the Fire Nation had been defeated, Aang had spared Fire Lord Ozai's life by taking away his bending, Princess Azula had been thrown in prison, Prince Zuko had earned back his honor and had been crowned the new Fire Lord, declaring the war officially over. It was a lot for one person to take in, even if they were the Avatar. Of course, some people had an easier time registering everything that had happened than others. In Sokka's words, today was merely just another epic win for "Team Avatar".

But even despite all of the days events and the effect that all of them had on the lives of every being whose had been affected by the war, there was one question whose answer remained unknown to the young Avatar. And of course, it was the hardest question to ask.

Slowly, Aang sat up, leaning back on his palms and looking down at Katara nervously.

"Um, Katara?" he asked quietly, the first to break the silence that had fallen over them. Katara turned her head to look up at him questioningly.

"Yes?" she replied, her eyes looking up into his.

"Um, I was wondering...," Aang said, lowering his eyes to the floor as he began, "...d-does this mean that we're...?"

At this, Aang had to glance away, his blush returning as his courage wavered. But he finally returned his gaze to Katara, and that small, meek smile that Aang had given her before she had kissed him minutes before returned as he softly looked into her eyes.

"Does this mean that we're together now?" he asked shyly, the innocent, childlike expression on his face illuminated by a familiar spark of hope. Katara beamed up at him before sitting up herself and staring deeply into Aang's hopeful eyes.

"Yes...," she laughed. "We're together now."

Katara never saw a bigger, more genuine smile go across Aang's face.

Aang nearly toppled Katara to the ground again with the force of his hug, pulling her so tightly to him that she could almost hear the racing of his heart in the air around them as it beat in his chest. Aang's shoulders shook lightly as small, indistinct sniffles escaped from his lips, tears of joy and relief rolling down his cheeks and falling against Katara's neckline. Aang only wrapped his arms around Katara tighter as he pressed his damp cheek against her cool one, smiling gently through his tears. Katara hugged Aang to her with all the fierceness she could muster, also smiling against Aang's cheek as she listened to his soft sniffles of joy, pain, and most of all, love.

Aang pulled away from Katara a few minutes later, his hold on her loose now and his tears dried into soft rivets down his cheeks. He gently smoothed his hand across Katara's cheek, brushing against her hair as he moved his hand to cradle the back of her neck. Aang's eyes became half-lidded as he slowly brought Katara's lip towards his, both closing their eyes when their lips met for the second time that night. Katara was about to lose all conscious thought and herself along into this touch, when Aang suddenly drew back, a troubled look of worry crossing his face.

"Wait Katara! I have one more question!" Aang said, his tone becoming fretful. Katara sighed quietly, sulking the tiniest bit.

"Way to ruin the moment Aang. And right when I was starting to think how romantic you can be," Katara thought to herself in amusement. She didn't realize until this moment how much of a kid Aang still was, awkward romance mess ups and all. Although she couldn't bring herself to ignore the look of sincere concern on Aang's face, she was going to have to teach him a lesson or two on how to woo a woman later on.

"Now that I'm with you, will Sokka and your dad come after me with sledgehammers?" Aang asked, genuine fear apparent in his wide, scared eyes.

Katara couldn't help the laughter that escaped her lips at hearing the subject of Aang's fear.

"Though I wouldn't put it past Sokka to throw a fit," Katara answered Aang truthfully, "I could never see my father or my brother raising a hand against us being together."

She looked deeply into Aang's worried eyes and smiled softly, reassuring him with her presence and drawing a tentative smile from him in return.

"They love you Aang. And...I love you too," Katara said, hesitating only for a moment as she finally admitted her feelings to him after so long, "And even if they did come after you, I wouldn't let them hurt you." She smiled. "My sweet little Avatar."

Aang beamed at Katara for the second time, and he pulled her into another hug, closing his eyes as he leaned into her cheek once again.

"I love you too," he said.

Both Aang and Katara finally pulled away from each other, still smiling, and they stood up to rejoin their friends in celebration inside the Jasmine Dragon. Little did either of them know how long they really had been alone or did either of them notice Toph sitting on the sofa, leaning against its arm and whispering something into Sokka's ear behind a cupped hand, his mouth steadily dropping lower and lower.

Aang only finally registered that something was amiss when he heard the sound of wood clapping against someone's palm. He turned slowly, dread written all over his face as well as embarrassment to see an extremely livid Sokka wielding his new boomerang over his head and a smirking Toph sitting on the couch behind him. Katara also turned, them clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the noise of the snort that her throat was compelling her to release.

"Run!" was the last thing the gaang heard Katara scream before she succumbed to uncontrollable laughter, grabbing Aang's hand as the two bolted out the door. The two spent the rest of the night laughing, screaming, and fleeing through the streets of Ba Sing Se to escape the wrath of Sokka and Boomerang.

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**And now I want to take the time to give credit to all the stories and authors of this pairing that helped fuel me with ideas and inspiration for this one-shot! I tried to include every story that I could think of that I directly recalled using an idea from, but I still don't know if I got everyone (I think I'm missing one other story that takes place right after the kiss), so if I accidentally missed anyone I offer my deepest apologies! And so, I want to thank:**

_kataangglvr125's _From Penguin Sledding to a Lifetime of Happiness **for the setting (following immediately after the final kiss), the emphasis of KATARA kissing AANG, not the other way around, the idea of a smirking Toph being able to feel what was going on, and Katara's confusion**

_Proud to be Contradicting's _Hush **for another inspiration for the setting after the final kiss**

_quidditchchick004's _After the Battle Kataang OneShot for Raid **for the theory behind Katara's confusion in "The Ember Island Players" **

_KageOkami-Kogo's _The Next Day **for the couch in Iroh's tea shop that Toph spills the beans on in my story and again, her being able to feel what had happened with her feet (XD)**

_Tyler743's _AVATAR: The Rising Empire **for the idea behind Zuko giving Aang the traditional monk's robes and the idea behind POed Sokka**

******and finally **_Kirena4luvs-Fang's _Just the Fun Times **for the further inspiration behind a childlike, fun, and innocent story for ATLA (really helped my portrayal of Aang in this story)**

**And of course, episode 12 in Season One, "The Storm" and episode 51 in Season Three, "The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse" fueled me with some idea two, episode 12 for the grumbling behind Sokka's interruptions RIGHT AS AANG IS ABOUT TO ADMIT HIS FEELINGS TO KATARA and episode 51 for the inspiration behind Aang's tears. I just gotta say, my sister and I were screaming, literally, at Sokka in "The Storm". I mean, C'MON! D:**

**So thank you again to each one of these authors (and episodes XP) for their inspiration, I hope you aren't offended that I used elements of your stories in my own, and hope you all enjoyed!**

- _Yukaido_

**P.S. Just a little side-note, I have to say that the line "Planet Avatar, anyone home?" amuses me to no end for some reason. **


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